And the boy is now 21 months old! 3 more months and he’s two! Wheee!
[[image:2013_0929_rafe17.jpg:Giggle giggle:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
Again, I am so very late writing this entry. No need to make excuses, you all know how it is, right? And Adik seems to have come a long way in a month. Our little hero now knows all the letters of the alphabet! A-Z, in capital letters and small letters! We can’t believe it. In fact, he’s obsessed! He can’t get enough of it. He is yelling out all the letters that he sees, and singing the ABC song (including the techno-rap youtube stuff that he loves) and all around just totally immersing himself in the written language. He’s even saying the alphabets in his sleep, poor lamb. 🙂
And the truth is, I only remember teaching him O and S. He just picked up the rest by himself. I guess being the second child and wanting to be just like his sister helps. But it’s crazy! It’s like he has a built in party trick.
Speech-wise, Adik is just so very verbal. His vocabulary is unbelievable. We don’t even know how many words he knows because he keeps coming up with them. He always uses the words correctly, even if he doesn’t say it exactly right too. So not only does he say the word but he knows what the words mean as well. He is even starting to string words together into a sentence to get his meaning across. This is of course so very different from our experience with Yaya. By her calendar, Adik has six more months before he should even start speaking! Bedtimes are totally far too cute – he gets hugs and kisses from everyone and then (very The Waltons-esque) we say good night to each other. Adik says “Night-night Yee-yee”, “Night-night Yaya”, “Night-night Papa” and finally “Night-night Mama” (in that order). And then he starts over with “Uvoo…” to each of us. It is just way too cute
Food-wise, Adik does love peanut butter. He likes eating it just by itself, on bagels, on roti canai. Apparently it’s all good. He’s not that picky. He also mooches chocolates off my breakfast plate and noodles from my lunch bowl (usually spicy noodles too). He just has to be in the mood to eat and he’ll eat it. He does still drink a lot of Pediasure (he calls it “juice”), and that’s something that we are finding hard to wean him off – he doesn’t like whole milk. He will drink orange juice, but that’s no substitute, more of a treat. So far, we’re just letting him enjoy his Pediasure (as many as 3 a day!). At least though we are assured that he is getting proper nutrition. Adik also will just munch on peanut halves – he loves the stuff (simple roasted peanuts), goldfish, grapes and Froot Loops.
Teeth status: He has been drooling and chewing on his hands a lot lately. We think that his molars might be coming in. Sometimes he doesn’t want to eat anything and just wants to chug his liquids. He has also been feeling far into his mouth with his fingers, getting drool everywhere. Hopefully this won’t be too painful for the little guy. He’s pretty stoic so far, and hasn’t cried or fussed too much.
Sleep status: Adik sleeps half the night in the crib and usually wakes up once. This past month, I have been trying to just rock /cuddle / pet him back to sleep (on the bed with us, I know, but at least half the night in the crib!) instead of nursing him. So far so good! So now Adik is down to nursing only at bedtime and naptime. I think it will be difficult to wean him completely though – Yaya was self-weaned at 22 months. She was only nursing at bedtime for a long time, and then one day I just put her in the crib without nursing and she didn’t ask for it again. I have a feeling Adik will put up much more of a fuss than Yaya did.
So let’s move to the pictures of how Adik spent his 21 month birthday!
[[image:2013_0929_rafe01.jpg:Waiting for breakfast on the sofa:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe02.jpg:My angel baby:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe03.jpg:Cheeeeeese:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe04.jpg:I want to draw too:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe05.jpg:CORN (crayon), Mama!:center:0]]
Stacking up play-doh bins:
[[image:2013_0929_rafe08.jpg:One, two, tee, four!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe09.jpg:Don’t tip over!:center:0]]
And then Yaya and Adik decided to play with an empty box. Yaya pushes Adik around and he enjoys the ride.
[[image:2013_0929_rafe06.jpg:Push, Yaya!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe07.jpg:Adik wants to go faster:center:0]]
Then Yaya walks around with the box on her head, pretending to be a monster. Adik however decides it is extremely funny and wants to play with her:
[[image:2013_0929_rafe10.jpg:Drumming on the box on Yaya’s head!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe11.jpg:Yelling “YAYA!!!!!”:center:0]]
Then Yaya comes out from under the box and both start a drumming fiesta:
[[image:2013_0929_rafe12.jpg:Woohooo!! Drum! Drum! Drum!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe13.jpg:Adik has had enough of the box and throws it aside:center:0]]
Here’s Adik sitting in the stroller, watching The Chica Show and hugging Yaya’s Chica toy. Note the finger in the mouth, just poking his gums and feeling around.
[[image:2013_0929_rafe14.jpg:Bite, bite:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe15.jpg:Entranced by the Chica Show:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe16.jpg:Adik sits and reads:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe18.jpg:Now he wants to ride around on the overturned table (he wants Yaya to push him on that too):center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe19.jpg:Random running around picture:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe20.jpg:He’s communicating earnestly:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe21.jpg:Playing on the “big thing”:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe22.jpg:Another “cheeeeeese” picture:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe23.jpg:Begging for something or other:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe24.jpg:Yaya helps to put the table away even though Adik still wants to play:center:0]]
So Adik has to find something else to do!
[[image:2013_0929_rafe25.jpg:Here comes trouble!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe26.jpg:When Chompy the Crocodile attacks!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe27.jpg:Teacup and ball:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe28.jpg:Papa bounces a ping pong ball on a paddle, much to Adik’s excitement:center:0]]
[[image:2013_0929_rafe29.jpg:He loves peeeeng pong!:center:0]]
Another exciting month has passed! It is now bedtime for little boys (and their sister, and parents). Happy 21 month birthday, baby boy! We love you!!
[[image:2013_0929_rafe30.jpg:That tickles, Papa!:center:0]]
